Review

Files in a WSP package:

1.    Change .wsp extension to .cab

2.    Double click on .cab file

3.    You can see contents like elements.xml, manifest.xml, feature.xml and other solution related files.

Check below contents…

another link : http://academy.bindtuning.com/how-to-manually-edit-a-sharepoint-wsp-file/

Backup vs Import:

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/sharepoint/en-US/aaf5af16-8fe2-4b84-8e31-9f759b3b6d74/import-vs-backup-for-site-collection

How to deploy Designer workflow to Production:

Follow the below steps to move workflow into production environment site,

1.       In the Development environment open the SharePoint Designer and export the workflow you want using “Export to Visio”.

2.       Rename the vwi files by adding ".zip" extension, now open the zip file and remove the "workflow.xoml.wfconfig.xml" because it contains the details about the associated list, once you remove the file from the zip folder, the association between the workflow and the list will be removed and the workflow can be associated with any other list.

3.       After removing the "workflow.xoml.wfconfig.xml" file from the zip folder, then again Rename the zip folder by adding ".vwi" extension.

4.       Open SharePoint designer in the production environment and open the site.

5.       Now Click on Workflows.

6.       Click the “Import from Visio” option from the ribbon and select the altered ".vwi" extension file.

7.       System will open the imported Workflow.

8.       Click on Save and then Publish

How to Apply Cumulative Updates and Service Packs to SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2013

The high level process for updating your SharePoint Farm is as follows:

1) Verify your current patch level by matching the Build Number using these instructions:

2) Download the applicable Cumulative Update (CU) or Service Pack. A good recommendation is to always be one CU behind the current release for production environments to avoid issues that may be introduced by a new CU. I would treat a Service Pack the same way in that you would wait until a CU is released after the Service Pack before proceeding. Please note that updates tend to be cumulative from a certain level of Service Pack. You can find the prerequisites listed in each KB article supporting a CU or Service Pack.

3) Copy the CU or Service Pack to each of the servers that have SharePoint installed. If you are following a best practices three-tier architecture, your SQL server does not require a CU or Service Pack since it does not have SharePoint installed on it.

IMPORTANT: It is highly recommended to test your update on your development/test farm before proceeding with updates to the production environment as you will want to ensure that the update proceeded as planned and that any custom development components or third-party solutions are fully operational.

4) Run the CU or Service Pack on each SharePoint server. I generally start with the Application Server that hosts Central Administration and run the CU on all Application Servers first before proceeding to the Web Front End Servers (WFE).

IMPORTANT: Do not run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard until all servers have had the CU or Service Pack installed and have been reset.

5) Reset each server

6) After the servers restart, run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard starting with the first Application server you installed in your SharePoint Farm (generally hosting Central Administration), all other Application Servers, and finally all Web Front End (WFE) Servers. In case of failure, please review the error log presented to determine the source and note that you may need to execute the psconfig command instead of wizard. There are times when simply re-running the wizard or psconfig will configure the server properly. Use the following instructions to run your Psconfig commands:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263093(v=office.14).aspx

7) Reset each server

8) Verify the build number by using the following instructions: